Sri Lanka whitewashed West Indies in the three-match ODI series at home ground with a nail-biting six-run win at Pallekele on Sunday. West Indies, on their part, have not won a match in Sri Lanka since their 33-run win back in August 2005. All-rounder Angelo Matthews was instrumental in helping the Islanders to victory with his three-dimensional prowess.
Sri Lanka, who had defeated Windies by a massive margin of 161 runs in the second game, winning the series already, won the toss and elected to bat first in the third match.
The Sri Lankan team made a total of 307 runs, with necessary contributions by Kusal Mendis (55 off 38) and Dhananjaya de Silva (51 off 38), Kusal Perera and captain Dimuth Karunaratne who both scored 44 each. Kusal Mendis reached his fifty in the 31st over. The Windies dismissed both Mendis and Perera within the next two overs, leaving Sri Lanka at 186/4 in 33 overs.
West Indies had a decent opening with Shai Hope’s trademark knock of 72. He was ably supported by opener Sunil Ambris, who scored 60 runs in the same number of balls.
At one point, the visitors were cruising through their chase, and the score seemed easy to reach at 218-2 in 40 overs.
Windies lost the match from the moment they began losing all their wickets. Fabian Allen was the only consistent spark of the team, hitting 37 from just 15 balls, bringing his team to 301-9.
Angelo Matthews took over when his team needed him the most, taking the important wickets of Nicholas Pooran (50 off 61) and Kieron Pollard (49 off 50). He also dismissed Allen, ending his spell at 4-59.
Matthews was rightly awarded the Man of the Match title, while Wanindu Hasaranga was awarded the Man of the Series.
Both Sri Lanka and West Indies are undergoing a transitional phase off late with the retirement of their top guns and had pitched in with a below-par showing in last year’s ICC World Cup as well.
